JP2017052075A - Answering device and adjusting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a plurality of answering devices from answering as the same character.SOLUTION: A robot (1) includes a character indication acquiring section (11) that acquires an indication that indicates a character to be applied when other robot (1) answers a question of a user (U), and a character determination section (12) that determines a character different from the character indicated by the indication, as a character to be applied when answering the question.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a response device that responds to a user's action, and more particularly to a response device that responds according to a set character.

  Devices that respond to user actions, such as robots that accept and answer user questions, have been known in the past, and the development of techniques for making appropriate responses to such devices has also been advanced in the past. Yes. For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a technique that enables individual and complicated reactions and operations by using attribute information indicating the individuality of a robot.

JP 2001-179665 A (published July 3, 2001)

  Here, in the above-described conventional technology, a situation where a plurality of robots having the same individuality exist in the same field is not assumed. For this reason, the individuality of a robot and the individuality of another robot in the same field overlap, and there is a risk that each robot will respond in the same way to the user's question. The significance of the existence of multiple robots is diminished. This problem is not limited to robots, and is a problem that commonly occurs in response devices that respond to a user's action according to a predetermined character (character).

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to realize a response device or the like that can prevent a plurality of response devices from responding to the user with the same character. .

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a response device according to an aspect of the present invention is a response device that applies any of a plurality of predetermined characters to a user's action and responds according to the applied character. A character notification acquisition unit that acquires a character indicating that the other response device that has detected the action applies when responding to the action, or a character that the other response device does not apply when responding to the action; and And a character determination unit that uses a character different from the other response device as a character to be applied when responding to the action in response to the notification acquired by the character notification acquisition unit.

  A response device according to another aspect of the present invention is a response device that responds to a user's action according to a character in order to solve the above-described problem. A character determination unit that determines a character to be applied when responding to a character, a character determined by the character determination unit, or a character that the character determination unit has not determined among the plurality of predetermined characters, And a character notification unit for notifying the response device.

  And the adjustment apparatus which concerns on 1 aspect of this invention adjusts the character of the response apparatus which responds according to either of several predetermined characters with respect to a user's action in order to solve the said subject. A response device detection unit that detects a plurality of response devices that respond to the action, and a character that each response device detected by the response device detection unit applies to respond to the user does not overlap. And a character adjustment unit that adjusts as described above.

  According to each said aspect, there exists an effect that a some response apparatus can prevent responding with the same character with respect to a user.

It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the robot which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process in which the said robot responds with respect to a user's question. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the response character confirmation process which the said robot performs in the said process. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the robot and server which concern on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process which the said robot and the said server perform in dialogue with a user. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the robot and server which concern on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process which the said robot and the said server perform in dialogue with a user. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the robot and server which concern on Embodiment 4 of this invention.

Embodiment 1
Embodiment 1 of this invention is demonstrated based on FIGS. First, an outline of the robot (response device) 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a main configuration of the robot 1. In addition, in the same figure, a user U interacting with the robot 1 is illustrated, and another robot 1 interacting with the user U (here, the appearance is illustrated) is also illustrated. Note that the number of robots 1 that interact with the user U may be three or more.

  In response to an inquiry from the user U, the robot 1 outputs a response message according to the content of the inquiry. That is, the robot 1 is a device that can perform voice conversation with the user U. A plurality of characters are set in advance in the robot 1, and different response messages are output depending on the applied characters. When the robot 1 receives a question from the user U, if the other robot 1 is nearby, the main feature is that the robot 1 responds to the user U with a character different from the other robot 1. It is one of.

(Configuration of robot 1)
Next, the configuration of the robot 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. As illustrated, the robot 1 includes a control unit 10, a storage unit 20, a timing unit 30, a communication unit 31, a voice input unit 32, a voice output unit 33, and a position detection unit 34. The control unit 10 comprehensively controls various functions of the robot 1. The control unit 10 includes a character notification acquisition unit (position information acquisition unit) 11, a character determination unit 12, a position determination unit 13, a character notification unit 14, and a dialogue processing unit 15. The storage unit 20 stores various data used by the robot 1. The storage unit 20 stores a basic character ID 21, a temporary character ID 22, and a user correspondence database 23. The time measuring unit 30 measures time, and the communication unit 31 is for the robot 1 to communicate with another device (in this example, another robot 1). The voice input unit 32 receives an input of voice from the outside and transmits voice information indicating the input voice to the control unit 10, and is, for example, a microphone. The sound output unit 33 outputs sound according to the control of the control unit 10 and is, for example, a speaker. The position detection unit 34 detects the position of the robot 1 and outputs position information indicating the position to the control unit 10. The position detector 34 may detect a position using, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System).

  The basic character ID 21 is information (ID) indicating a character used by the robot 1 for a response, and the temporary character ID 22 is information (ID) indicating a temporary character used temporarily instead of the basic character ID 21. The basic character ID 21 may be set in advance (for example, at the time of manufacture or at the time of sale), may be set after purchase by the user, or may be set via a network such as the Internet. When setting via a network, you may register as temporary character ID22. When the temporary character ID 22 is registered, the character with that ID is applied with priority over the character with the basic character ID 21. However, after the registration, the temporary character ID 22 is not updated and expires for a certain period. Erased. Further, the user correspondence database 23 is a database in which the action of the user U and the response content to the user U are associated with each other, and different response content is registered for each character. Therefore, when the response is determined with reference to the user correspondence database 23, it is possible to determine a different response corresponding to the character for the same action of the user. In the following, an example in which the action of the user U is an inquiry to the robot 1 and the response of the robot to the response is an output of a response message will be described.

  The character notification acquisition unit 11 acquires a notification of a response character that is a character applied when the other robot 1 responds to the user U. The character determination unit 12 determines the response character of the robot 1 to be applied when responding to the user U so as not to overlap with the response characters of other robots 1. The position determination unit 13 determines that the position output by the position detection unit 34 is the position of the robot 1, and outputs position information indicating the position to the character determination unit 12. The character notification unit 14 notifies the other robot 1 of the response character of the robot 1 determined by the character determination unit 12. The character notification unit 14 may also notify other robots 1 of the position information acquired from the position detection unit 34 together with the response character. The dialogue processing unit 15 analyzes the content of the user U's inquiry (utterance) input to the voice input unit 32, generates a corresponding response message, and outputs the response message from the voice output unit 33. Although the details will be described later, the dialogue processing unit 15 specifies a response message corresponding to the character determined by the character determination unit 12 with reference to the user correspondence database 23, and causes the response message to be output as voice.

(Flow of dialogue processing by robot 1)
With reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the flow of response processing (control method of response device) by the robot 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing in which the robot 1 responds to a user's question. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of response character confirmation processing executed by the robot 1 in the above processing.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the dialogue processing unit 15 waits for the voice input unit 32 to accept a user's question (S1). When a question is accepted (YES in S1), the character determination unit 12 is instructed to determine a character to be applied when responding to the question. The character determination unit 12 that has received this instruction confirms whether or not the character notification acquisition unit 11 has received a character ID from another robot 1 (S2, character notification acquisition step). Here, when the character ID is received (YES in S2), the character determination unit 12 causes the position determination unit 13 to acquire the position information of the robot 1. Then, the acquired position information is compared with the position information of the other robot 1 acquired by the character notification acquisition unit 11 together with the character ID, and it is determined whether or not the other robot 1 is in the vicinity of the robot 1. (S3). In S3, if it is within a predetermined range from the robot 1, it may be determined that another robot 1 exists in the vicinity of the robot 1. The predetermined range may be a range that can detect another robot 1 that can respond to the user's action, and may be within a few meters from the robot 1, for example. Here, by determining whether or not there is another robot 1 in the vicinity of the robot 1 in the vicinity of the user, it is indirectly determined whether or not there is another robot 1 within a predetermined range from the user. Yes.

  If it is determined in S3 that it is near (YES in S3), the character determination unit 12 performs a response character confirmation process (S4A), confirms the character to be applied when responding to the question in S1, and proceeds to the process in S5. . That is, the character determination unit 12 determines the character of the robot 1 by the process of S5 and subsequent steps on the condition that the position of the other robot 1 is determined to be within a predetermined range from the user. On the other hand, if it is determined in S3 that it is not near (NO in S3), the character determination unit 12 performs a response character confirmation process (S4B), and proceeds to the process of S8. Also, if NO is determined in S2 (when no character ID is received from another robot 1), the process proceeds to S4B.

  The details of the response character confirmation process (S4A, S4B) will be described with reference to FIG. First, the character determination unit 12 determines whether or not the value of the temporary character ID 22 is stored (stored) in the storage unit 20 (S21). If not stored (NO in S21), the process proceeds to S25. On the other hand, if stored (YES in S21), the character determination unit 12 determines whether or not the ID has expired based on the time information acquired from the time measuring unit 30 (S22). Here, if it has not expired (NO in S22), the character determination unit 12 sets the character of the ID as a response character (S23) and ends the process. On the other hand, if it has expired (YES in S22), the character determination unit 12 deletes the ID value from the storage unit 20 (S24), sets the character of the basic character ID 21 as a response character (S25), and ends the process. .

  Returning to the description of FIG. The character determination unit 12 determines whether or not the response character confirmed in the response character confirmation process (S4A) is the same as the response character notified in S2 (S5). If the response characters are the same (YES in S5), the character determination unit 12 changes its response character to one different from that notified from the other robot 1 (S6, character determination step). Then, the ID of the response character after the change is registered in the temporary character ID 22 (S7). In addition, the character determination unit 12 notifies the registered ID to the character notification unit 14 and the dialogue processing unit 15.

  In S8, the character notification unit 14 notifies the response character determined by the character determination unit 12 to other robots 1 located around (near) the robot 1 via the communication unit 31 (S8, character notification step). ). Further, the character notification unit 14 notifies the surrounding robot 1 of the position information acquired from the position detection unit 34 as well as the response character (S9). The robot 1 that has transmitted the character ID confirmed to be received in S2 may be excluded from the response character and position information notification target. Finally, the dialogue processing unit 15 generates a response message corresponding to the response character of the ID notified from the character determination unit 12 with respect to the question received in S1 (S10), and outputs it from the voice output unit 33 (S11). .

  In this embodiment, it is assumed that the notifications in S8 and S9 (notification received in S2) are performed by wireless communication via the communication unit 31, but the notification mode is not limited to this example. . The same applies to the following embodiments. For example, notification may be made by voice (preferably outside the audible range). In this case, it is not necessary to form a communication network in advance for wireless communication. In addition, since the notification range is limited to the range where the voice can reach, the robot 1 that is close to the user but does not participate in the dialogue with the user, such as the robot 1 installed in the adjacent room, is subject to adjustment. Can be outside. Further, the position confirmation (S3) and position information notification (S9) of the notification source robot are not essential and may be omitted. In this case, the position determination unit 13 and the position detection unit 34 in FIG. 1 can also be omitted. The same applies to the following embodiments.

  Moreover, although the example which notifies a response character was shown in said example, you may notify one or several characters other than a response character. In this case, the robot 1 that has received the notification determines a response character from the notified characters. In this configuration, a character that responds to one user can be a predetermined combination. For example, each character stands out as a combination of contrasting characters, such that one character is open (there are many rough answers to the questions) and the other is a meticulous face (the answers to the questions are often detailed). It is also possible to

[Embodiment 2]
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. First, an outline of the robot (response device) 200 and the server (adjustment device) 300 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a main configuration of the robot 200 and the server 300. In this embodiment, the server 300 adjusts the characters of the two robots 200. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted. The same applies to the following embodiments.

(Configuration of robot 200)
The robot 200 in FIG. 4 has the same configuration as the robot 1 in FIG. 1 except that the robot ID 24 is stored in the storage unit 20. The robot ID 24 is identification information of the robot 200, and a unique robot ID 24 is assigned to each robot 200 in advance.

(Configuration of server 300)
The server 300 is a device that adjusts the response characters of the robots 200 so that they do not overlap when the plurality of robots 200 respond to the user. The server 300 has a control unit 310 that controls each unit of the server 300 in an integrated manner, a storage unit 320 that stores various data used by the server 300, and the server 300 communicates with other devices (the robot 200 in this example). The communication unit 331 is provided.

  The control unit 310 includes a notification acquisition unit 311 (response device detection unit), a character adjustment unit 312, and a character change instruction unit (adjustment character notification unit) 313. The storage unit 320 stores a character determination database 321. The character determination database 321 is for determining the response character of the robot 200, and the ID of the response character notified from each robot 200 is a database in which the position information of the robot 200 and the robot ID 24 are associated with each other. is there.

  The notification acquisition unit 311 detects a plurality of robots 200 that respond to user actions (questions). Specifically, the notification acquisition unit 311 acquires a notification of a response character from each robot 200 that has detected the user's action, whereby the robot 200 that has transmitted the notification (that is, the robot 200 that responds to the user's action). Is detected. In addition, the character adjustment unit 312 adjusts each robot 200 detected by the notification acquisition unit 311 so that characters applied in response to the user do not overlap. Specifically, when the response character indicated by the notification acquired by the notification acquisition unit 311 overlaps in the plurality of robots 200, the character adjustment unit 312 adjusts the response character so as to avoid the overlap. Then, when the character adjustment unit 312 adjusts the response character of the robot 200, the character change instruction unit 313 notifies the adjusted response character and instructs the robot 200 to respond with the response character.

(Flow of dialogue processing by the robot 200 using the server 300)
With reference to FIG. 5, the flow of processing (the response device control method and the adjustment device control method) executed by the robot 200 and the server 300 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by the robot 200 and the server 300 in the dialog with the user.

  The dialogue processing unit 15 waits for the voice input unit 32 to accept the user's question (S31). When the question is accepted (YES in S31), the dialogue processing unit 15 applies to the character determination unit 12 in response to the question. Instruct them to decide which character to play. The character determination unit 12 that has received this instruction executes a response character confirmation process (S32) similar to that of the first embodiment (FIG. 3), confirms the response character, and notifies the character notification unit 14.

  Next, the character notification unit 14 that has received this notification transmits the notified ID of the response character, the position information acquired from the position determination unit 13, and the robot ID 24 to the server 300 via the communication unit 31 (S33). ). Note that the time information indicating the time when the user's inquiry is received may be transmitted to the server 300 together with the above information. Although not shown in FIG. 5, when another robot 200 accepts a user's question, the other robot 200 also receives the response character ID, robot ID 24, and position information in the same manner as described above. To 300.

  The notification acquisition unit 311 of the server 300 waits for detection of the robot 200 responding to the response character ID, position information, and robot ID notification, that is, the user's question (S41, response device detection step). Here, when the notification is accepted (YES in S41), the notification acquisition unit 311 instructs the character adjustment unit 312 to check whether or not the response character included in the notification overlaps with that of the other robot 200. Instruct.

  The character adjustment unit 312 that has received the instruction refers to the character determination database 321 and performs the determination of S42 to S44. Specifically, in S42, it is determined whether a notification is received from the same point within a predetermined time. When the robot 200 is transmitting time information in S33, the determination in S42 may be performed with reference to this time information. If there is a notification from the same point within a predetermined time (YES in S42), it is confirmed in S43 whether or not the notification is from the same robot 200. Further, if the notification is not from the same robot 200 (NO in S43), it is determined in S44 whether or not the response characters of those robots 200 are the same. If it is the same as the response character (YES in S44), the character adjustment unit 312 registers a response character having a value different from the notified ID in the character determination database 321 as a response character of the robot 200 ( S45, character adjustment step). Thereafter, the process proceeds to S47.

  On the other hand, when there is no notification from the same point within a predetermined time (NO in S42), when the notification is from the same robot 200 (YES in S43), or when the response character is different (NO in S44). Registers the ID of the notified response character in the character determination database 321 (S46). Thereafter, the process proceeds to S47. In S47, the character change instruction unit 313 notifies the robot 200 of the response character registered in S45 or S46 via the communication unit 331.

  The character notification acquisition unit 11 of the robot 200 waits for an answer from the server 300 (S34). When the answer is accepted (YES in S34), the character determination unit 12 is notified of the content of the answer. Then, the character determination unit 12 determines whether or not the response character has an instruction to change the response character (S35, character notification acquisition step). Specifically, the character determination unit 12 determines that there is a change instruction if the response character confirmed in S32 is different from the response character notified by the answer from the server 300. If it is determined that there is no change instruction (NO in S35), the process proceeds to S37.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a change instruction (YES in S35), the character determination unit 12 registers the ID of the response character notified from the server 300 as the temporary character ID 22 (S36, character determination step). Since the temporary character ID 22 is applied in preference to the basic character ID 21, the registered character of the temporary character ID 22 becomes a response character. Thereafter, similarly to the above embodiment, a response message corresponding to the response character is generated (S37) and output (S38).

  Although an example has been described above in which the server 300 notifies the response character even when the response character is not changed, notification may be made when the response character is changed, and notification may be made when the response character is not changed. In this case, if there is no answer from the server 300 (NO in S34), the robot 200 responds to the user with the response character confirmed in S32.

[Embodiment 3]
A third embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. First, an outline of the robot (response device) 400 and the server (adjustment device) 500 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a main configuration of the robot 400 and the server 500. In this embodiment, the two robots 400 respond to the user with different characters, but in addition to adjusting the characters of each robot 400, the server 500 also generates response messages.

(Configuration of robot 400 and server 500)
The robot 400 in FIG. 6 has the same configuration as the robot 200 in FIG. 4 except that the user correspondence database 23 is not stored in the storage unit 20. Further, the server 500 of FIG. 6 is the same as the server 500 except that the control unit 310 includes a response generation unit (response content notification unit) 511 and the storage unit 320 stores a user correspondence database 521. 4 is the same configuration as the server 300 of FIG. The user correspondence database 521 is a database similar to the user correspondence database 23 described above.

  The response generation unit 511 generates a response message from the user correspondence database 521 based on the response character adjusted by the character adjustment unit 312 and the user's question, and transmits the response message from the communication unit 331 to the robot 400. That is, the robot 400 notifies the server 500 of the user's utterance content, and the server 500 adjusts the response character of the robot 400 and generates a response message corresponding to the response character. Then, the robot 400 responds to the user's utterance (question) by outputting the received response message.

(Flow of dialogue processing by the robot 400 using the server 500)
A flow of processing executed by the robot 400 and the server 500 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the robot 400 and the server 500 in the dialog with the user. Note that S51, 52, 54 to 56, and 62 to 66 in FIG. 7 are the same processes as S31, 32, 34 to 36, and 42 to 46 in FIG.

  In S53, the character notification unit 14 transmits the notified response character ID, the voice information of the user's question, the robot ID 24, and the position information acquired from the position determination unit 13 to the server 500 via the communication unit 31. . The voice information is generated based on voice (user's inquiry) input via the voice input unit 32.

  The notification acquisition unit 311 of the server 500 waits for detection of the response character, voice information, robot ID 24, and position information, that is, the robot 400 responding to the user's question (S61, response device detection step). . Here, when the notification is received (YES in S61), the processing after S62 is performed, and the response character is registered in S65 (character adjustment step) or S66. In subsequent S67, the response generation unit 511 generates a response message corresponding to the registered response character based on the voice information confirmed in S61 and the user correspondence database 521. The character change instruction unit 313 transmits the registered response character to the robot 400, and the response generation unit 511 transmits the response message generated in S67 to the robot 400 (S68). In this way, since the response generation unit 511 transmits a response message to the robot 400 in the server 500, the dialogue processing unit 15 of the robot 400 receives the response message received from the server 500 via the communication unit 31 as the voice output unit 33. The voice is further output (S57), and the process is terminated.

[Embodiment 4]
A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a main configuration of the robot (response device) 600 and the server (adjustment device) 700. This embodiment is the same as the third embodiment, except that the server 700 does not notify the robot 600 of the adjusted character.

(Configuration of robot 600 and server 700)
The robot 600 of FIG. 8 differs from the robot 400 of FIG. 6 in that the control unit 10 does not include the character notification acquisition unit 11 and the character determination unit 12 and the temporary character ID 22 is not stored in the storage unit 20. doing. 8 is different from the server 500 in FIG. 6 in that the control unit 310 does not include the character change instruction unit 313.

  Since the robot 600 does not include the character notification acquisition unit 11 and the character determination unit 12, when the dialogue processing unit 15 receives the user's question, the character notification unit 14 receives the basic character ID 21 and the voice information indicating the user's question. Is transmitted to the server 700. At this time, the position information acquired by the position determination unit 13 may also be transmitted.

  On the other hand, in the same manner as in the third embodiment, the server 700 adjusts the response character as required by the character adjustment unit 312, and responds according to the response character after adjustment by the response generation unit 511 and the voice information. A message is generated and transmitted to the robot 600. However, since the server 700 does not include the character change instruction unit 313, the server 700 does not notify the robot 600 of the adjusted response character.

  The robot 600 may omit the transmission of the basic character ID 21. In this case, the notification acquisition unit 311 of the server 700 detects each robot 600 that has accepted the user's question by receiving voice information indicating the user's question. Next, the character adjustment unit 312 of the server 700 determines that the response characters of the robots 600 detected by the notification acquisition unit 311 do not overlap. Then, the response generation unit 511 determines the response content by the determined response character and notifies each robot 600 of the response content. In addition, the determined response character may be notified to each robot 600, and the response by the response character may be performed. In this case, the response content may be determined by each robot 600.

[Modification]
In each of the above embodiments, an example in which one server 300, 500, 700 is used has been described. However, each function of the server 300, 500, 700 may be realized by an individual server. And when applying a some server, each server may be managed by the same provider, and may be managed by a different provider.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, an example in which a response to the user's utterance is performed by the robot 1, 200, 400, or 600 has been described, but a response device that responds to the user's utterance is not limited to the robot. For example, home appliances around the user, such as a television or a refrigerator, may be used as the response device. In addition, for example, a communication terminal device such as a smartphone or a mobile phone can be used as the response device. Further, the action of the user as a response target is not limited to the utterance, and may be an action that does not involve voice such as gestures. In this case, a user's predetermined action can be detected by using a camera, a motion sensor, or the like. Similarly, the response by the response device is not limited to the voice output of the response message. For example, when the response device has a display unit, the response message may be displayed on the display unit. Further, for example, it is possible to move the response device by a movement according to the user's action.

  In the first embodiment, the example in which the response character is adjusted when it is determined from the position information of the robot 1 and the position information of the other robot 1 that the two robots 1 exist in the vicinity. This position information may indicate an absolute position like position information acquired by GPS, or may indicate a relative position between the two robots 1. Further, since the character adjustment may be performed when another robot 1 exists in the vicinity of the user who detected the action by the robot 1, it is determined whether or not the other robot 1 exists within a predetermined range from the user. May be.

[Example of software implementation]
Each block of the robot 1, 200, 400, 600 and the servers 300, 500, 700 may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like, or a CPU (Central Processing Unit). ) May be implemented by software.

  The control blocks (particularly the control units 10 and 310) of the robots 1, 200, 400, 600 and the servers 300, 500, 700 may be realized by logic circuits (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like. Alternatively, it may be realized by software using a CPU (Central Processing Unit).

  In the latter case, the robots 1, 200, 400, and 600 and the servers 300, 500, and 700 are read by a computer (or CPU) that executes a command of a program that is software that realizes each function, and the program and various data. A ROM (Read Only Memory) or a storage device (these are referred to as “recording media”), a RAM (Random Access Memory) in which the program is expanded, and the like are provided. And the objective of this invention is achieved when a computer (or CPU) reads the said program from the said recording medium and runs it. As the recording medium, a “non-temporary tangible medium” such as a tape, a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, a programmable logic circuit, or the like can be used. The program may be supplied to the computer via an arbitrary transmission medium (such as a communication network or a broadcast wave) that can transmit the program. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

[Summary]
The response device (robot 1, 200, 400) according to aspect 1 of the present invention is a response device that applies any of a plurality of predetermined characters to a user's action and responds according to the applied character. Then, a notification indicating a character that other response device (robot 1, 200, 400) that detected the action applies when responding to the action or a character that the other response device does not apply when responding to the action is acquired. A character notification acquisition unit (11) that performs a response different from the other response device in response to the notification acquired by the character notification acquisition unit, and a character determination unit (12) that is applied when responding to the action. And.

  According to said structure, according to the notification which the character notification acquisition part acquired, the character different from another response apparatus is made into the character applied at the time of the response with respect to an action. Therefore, it is possible to respond to the user's action with a character different from other response devices. That is, according to said structure, there exists an effect that a some response apparatus can prevent responding with the same character with respect to a user.

  The response device according to aspect 2 of the present invention is the position information acquisition unit that acquires position information for determining whether or not the position of the other response device is within a predetermined range from the user in the above aspect 1. (Character notification acquisition unit 11), and the character determination unit is configured so that the position of the other response device is determined to be within a predetermined range from the user based on the position information. A character different from the device may be used as a character applied when responding to the action.

  According to said structure, the character which applies a character different from the said other response apparatus at the time of the response with respect to a user's action on the condition that it determined with the position of the other response apparatus being in the predetermined range from a user And Therefore, in a situation where there is another response device within a predetermined range from the user and it is highly necessary to adjust the character applied to the response, the character applied to the response can be determined. In other words, according to the above configuration, in a situation where there is no other response device within a predetermined range from the user and the necessity for adjustment is low, it is possible to avoid determining the character. The position information may be information that can determine whether the position of another response device is within a predetermined range from the user. For example, the position information may be an absolute position of another response device, a relative position of another response device with respect to the response device, a relative position of another response device with respect to the user, or the like.

  The response device (robot 1, 200) according to aspect 3 of the present invention is a response device that responds to a user's action in accordance with a character, and is applied when responding to the action among a plurality of predetermined characters. A character determination unit (12) that determines a character, and another response that responds to the action of the character determined by the character determination unit or the character that the character determination unit has not determined among the plurality of predetermined characters. And a character notification unit (14) for notifying the device (robots 1, 200).

  According to said structure, while applying the character applied at the time of a response with respect to a user's action, the determined or not determined character is notified to the other response apparatus which responds to the said action. Therefore, it is possible to cause another response device to respond to the action with a character different from that of the response device. That is, according to said structure, there exists an effect that a some response apparatus can prevent responding with the same character with respect to a user.

  The adjustment device (server 300, 500, 700) according to the aspect 4 of the present invention is a response device (robot 200, 400, 600) that responds to a user action according to any of a plurality of predetermined characters. And a response device detection unit (311) that detects a plurality of response devices that respond to the action, and each response device detected by the response device detection unit responds to the user. And a character adjustment unit (312) for adjusting the characters to be applied so as not to overlap.

According to said structure, the some response apparatus responding to a user's action is detected, and it adjusts so that the character which each detected response apparatus applies in the case of a response to the said user may not overlap. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a plurality of response devices from responding to the user with the same character. Note that the “adjustment so that characters do not overlap” is performed by, for example, determining a character (a character different from the character to which the response device is to be applied) to be applied to the response device that is to respond with the overlapped character. There may be. Further, for example, characters that do not overlap each other may be determined for each of the plurality of response devices. In addition to this, for example, sending a notification to a response device that attempts to respond with a duplicate character to change the character is also included in the “adjustment so that characters do not overlap”.
In the adjustment device according to aspect 5 of the present invention, in the above aspect 4, the response device detection unit notifies each character of the response devices that the response device intends to apply from each of the detected response devices. The character adjustment unit determines that the character of the response device that has notified the character that overlaps with the character notified by the other response device among the plurality of response devices is a character different from the notified character. Also good.

  According to the above configuration, since it is only necessary to perform character adjustment for response devices with overlapping characters to be applied, it is possible to perform efficient adjustment with a minimum adjustment target.

  The adjustment device according to aspect 6 of the present invention is the response content notification unit (response generation unit 511) that notifies the response device of the response content to the user according to the character determined by the character adjustment unit in the above aspect 5. May be provided.

  According to said structure, since the response content according to a character is notified to a response device from an adjustment apparatus, it is not necessary for a response device to determine a response content. Therefore, a response device that does not have a function of determining the response content can be made to respond according to the character. Further, a response device having a function for determining the response content can be made to respond with a response content different from the response content determined by the response device.

  The adjustment device according to aspect 7 of the present invention may include the adjustment character notification unit (character change instruction unit 313) that notifies the response device of the character determined by the character adjustment unit in the above-described aspect 5 or 6. .

  According to said structure, the character adjusted by the character adjustment part, ie, the character adjusted so that it may not overlap with the character of another response apparatus, is notified to a response apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to make the response device respond with the character.

  The response device and the adjustment device according to each aspect of the present invention may be realized by a computer. In this case, the response device is operated by causing the computer to operate as each unit (software element) included in the response device or the adjustment device. Alternatively, a response device that causes the adjustment device to be realized by a computer or a control program for the adjustment device, and a computer-readable recording medium that records the control program also fall within the scope of the present invention.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Furthermore, a new technical feature can be formed by combining the technical means disclosed in each embodiment.

1, 200, 400, 600 Robot (response device)
11 Character notification acquisition unit (location information acquisition unit)
12 Character determination unit 14 Character notification unit 300, 500, 700 Server (adjustment device)
311 Notification acquisition unit (response device detection unit)
312 Character adjustment unit 313 Character change instruction unit (adjustment character notification unit)
511 Response generation unit (response content notification unit)

Claims (5)

A response device that applies any of a plurality of predetermined characters to a user's action and responds according to the applied character,
A character notification acquisition unit for acquiring a character indicating that the other response device that has detected the action applies when responding to the action, or a character that the other response device does not apply when responding to the action;
A response device comprising: a character determination unit that uses a character different from the other response device as a character to be applied in response to the action in response to the notification acquired by the character notification acquisition unit. . A position information acquisition unit for acquiring position information for determining whether or not the position of the other response device is within a predetermined range from the user;
The character determination unit determines a character different from the other response device for the action on the condition that the position of the other response device is determined to be within a predetermined range from the user based on the position information. The response device according to claim 1, wherein the response device is a character applied at the time of response. A response device that responds to a user's action according to a character,
A character determination unit for determining a character to be applied when responding to the action among a plurality of predetermined characters;
A character notifying unit for notifying a character determined by the character determining unit or a character not determined by the character determining unit among the plurality of predetermined characters to another responding device that responds to the action; A response device. An adjustment device that adjusts a character of a response device that responds to a user action according to any of a plurality of predetermined characters,
A response device detector for detecting a plurality of the response devices in response to the action;
An adjustment device comprising: a character adjustment unit that adjusts each response device detected by the response device detection unit so that characters applied in response to the user do not overlap. The response device detection unit acquires, from each of the detected plurality of response devices, a notification of a character that each response device intends to apply when responding,
The character adjustment unit determines a character of a response device that has notified a character overlapping with a character notified by another response device among the plurality of response devices, as a character different from the notified character. The adjusting device according to claim 4.

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